Each of these events celebrates a zealous self-indulgence through food and wine — but they’re set at different volumes. GourmetFest is a more intimate gathering that features a small stable of chefs under the banner of Relais & Châteaux, an international association of elite hotels and restaurants. Run by Carmel hotelier/restaurateur David Fink (Aubergine, Cantinetta Luca), GourmetFest will host 20 gastronomic events, including elite wine-paired dinners, cooking demos, wine tastings and panels led by top sommeliers and winemakers and experiential foraging and cycling experiences.

The weightier PBFW comes off with a more rock star, glitzy edge, with 250 wineries and 100 celebrity chefs pounding the palates of 8,000 guests. Appealing to a wider, hungrier audience, the PBFW team is just as keen to pair Champagne and caviar as they are burgers and Beaujolais.

The inspiration behind these two modern festivals — and many others around the country — came from the Masters of Food & Wine, a now-legendary culinary celebration that enjoyed a lusty 20-year run at the Highland’s Inn in Carmel.

It began in 1987, six years before the Food Network, before the modern aura of chefs as celebrities, way before we Yelped about restaurants and photographed our food, and before Eater and Chowhound and Gastronomica blew up our smartphones.

The man behind that intimate gathering of chefs, vintners and sommeliers was none other than Fink.

“A special time,” he said, in subdued understatement.

Fink and his crew created a collaborative environment where culinary professionals joined forces to feed guests, in person, and chat back and forth about the food and the philosophy behind it. You could schmooze with Julia Child, taste a sublime piece of sushi served by Nobu Matsuhisa himself, or finish an evening with a sunset cigar and a 1967 Sauternes from Chateau d’Yquem.

The Masters is where Champagne wishes and caviar dreams began.

Fink began to grow weary of people begging him to bring back the Masters, or a version of it, to the Peninsula

Finally, under the partnership of Relais & Chateau, he put together the intimacy and luxury of the Masters, with international chefs and wineries, while showing off local food and wine purveyors in and around the Peninsula.

Elsewhere food festivals have spiraled out of control, devolving into impersonal events with a series of long lines and hurt feelings. Fink wanted to create something different.

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“We feature the greatest chefs and winemakers in the world, but it’s not a large festival,” Fink said. “We want the chefs and winemakers all to get to know each other and spend time together, and to convey that feeling to the guests.”

Billed as a “four-day culinary immersion into the refined and rugged bounty of Central California,” GourmetFest offers some extraordinary experiences, including:

Cooking demonstrations by Michelin-starred chefs Charles Phan (Slanted Door, San Francisco) and Joachim Splichal (Patina, Los Angeles) to benefit Ment’or, a nonprofit created by culinary heavyweights Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud and Jérôme Bocuse to inspire young people to cook;

Dining experiences with Kyle Connaughton, the Japanophile who this year earned two Michelin stars for Healdsburg’s Single Thread Farms; James Beard Award-winner Barbara Lynch of Boston’s acclaimed Menton; 2017 James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year nominee Brady Williams of Canlis; and Joshua Skenes, chef/owner of three Michelin-starred Saison in San Francisco;

A tasting with esteemed winemaker Jean-Louis Chave, the 26th Jean-Louis Chave to run the family-owned Rhone-centered Domaine JL Chave (with special tastings of Hermitage vintages, including the extremely rare 1969);

A Krug Champagne Rarities of the Sea Lunch, and 10-course Rarities dinner featuring Skenes of Saison, joining forces with local chefs Justin Cogley and Yulanda Santos of Aubergine, along with Connaughton, Brady Williams (Canlis, Seattle), and Nathan Rich of Twin Farms (Vermont);

Pebble Beach Food & Wine’s lineup includes a top flight of chefs and winemakers from around the globe, but as usual allows a bevy of local talent to show what they’ve got on the big stage.

A wide variety of events continues a recent trend to appeal more to the everyday foodie. One lunch showcases grilled cheese and wine, another surrounding meatballs. Latina chef Lorena Garcia hosts a Taco Takedown. There’s even a Coastal Grillin’ dinner event at Asilomar Conference Grounds.

Of course, luxury events take center stage. There is a French Connection dinner with legendary chef Daniel Boulud, a rare tasting from Domaine Coche-Dury, one of the finest white wine producers in Burgundy, and a tribute dinner to the father of California cuisine, Jeremiah Tower, subject of the 2017 biopic “The Last Magnificent.”

Look for more on PBFW in a future column. Tickets are available now at www.pbfw.com.

Mike Hale can be reached at thegrubhunter@att.net. Listen to his weekly radio show “Food Fodder” at noon Wednesdays on KRML, 102.1 FM.